Hamburg  - These are exciting times for mobile gamers: an update of the Nintendo's DS mini-console was released in early April as the DSi, with several downloadable titles is already available. Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch are also growing in importance as platforms for mobile gaming. Sony's Playstation Portable, by contrast, is already well established in this field.

The best known DSi download game is WarioWare: Snapped! As with the versions for other platforms, this is really a collection of mini-games. The gimmick is the use of one of the two cameras built into the DSi as a controller. Positioned between the monitors on the mini-console and aimed at the player, it records his or her movements.

To perform the tasks - such as biting into a hamburger or reaching for a coin - the player must then actually move his or her head or fumble around with the hands. Games downloaded from the DSi shop are transferred onto the console using the Wi-Fi-Connection. The users must first download the free internet browser. Wario Ware: Snapped! costs 500 Nintendo Points, which corresponds to 5 dollars.

The previous DS will continue to be offered alongside the new 170- dollar DSi and will be able to play many games designed for the new console, providing they don't require the camera-controller. One such title is the role playing game Blue Dragon Plus from Ignition Entertainment, designed in Japan. Its predecessor, Blue Dragon, involved young warrior Shu and his friends.

That game unfolded across a variety of battlegrounds as the colourful group took on monsters like the three-headed dragon Balaur. Shu's followers have different abilities, such as especially clever fighting styles or good healing abilities. They must be tactically deployed to win. Despite the martial-sounding concept, Blue Dragon Plus is not at all bloody, and hence is suited for gamers as young as six. It costs roughly 40 dollars.

Resistance Retribution from Sony Computer Entertainment by contrast is not suitable for kids, and in fact is available only for the PSP. The first-person shooter is set in the period after Resistance: Fall of Man for the Playstation 3. The gamer controls a soldier named James Grayson. His task is to track down mutants who have infiltrated European cities like Paris or Bonn.

Another big-boy game is Metal Gear Solid. A new version of the first-person shooter series dubbed Touch has been prepared for the iPod Touch and iPhone. The action is controlled using the device's touch screen. The title from Konami is available at the Apple App Store for just under 5 dollars.

Don King is probably the most famous boxing promoter in the world. He rose to fame in 1974 when he promoted the Rumble in the Jungle, a notorious fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Kinshasa, a city in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. 2K Sports is using his name for Don King Boxing for the DS.

Before stepping into the ring against serious competition, up-and- coming boxers first need to train. That means hooks and jabs into the punching bag or the trainer until the controls are second nature.

That means using the directional pad to approach the opponent, and then the touch pen to determine whether a jab or hard hook to the head is thrown.

Properly thrown punches keep the crucial adrenaline gauge in the green. The boxer needs to remember not to throw too many uncoordinated punches. Otherwise he'll get tired-and soon end up on the mat. The game costs 30 dollars.

For those looking for a more peaceful pastime, the jump-n-run classic Giana Sisters will certainly fit the bill. The cult game was originally released in 1987 for the C64, before travelling to the Amiga and Atari as well. Now it's available for the Nintendo DS. The action is the same as ever: Giana, a blond-haired girl, travels around reclaiming diamonds stolen from her by a mysterious power.

She hops through a colourful fantasy world with a blue sky and mushrooms on the edge of the path. Giana's diamonds are strewn throughout the levels, waiting to be gathered. She also has to dispatch with her opponents, including mean owls and bugs.

She can also turn into a wild punker Giana, able to bust through walls, or fly using chewing gum bubbles when she finds a candy machine. The original synthesizer soundtrack has even been remastered. You can take home these sisters for around 40 dollars.

Players between 7 and 15 are the primary audience for the new DS episode of Carmen Sandiego. In The Secret at the End of the World, Agent Julia Argent and her assistant Adam are tasked with capturing master thief Sandiego.

In the 1990s, Carmen Sandiego was a popular children's show bringing children on virtual trips through different countries to collect clues and interview witnesses. The 20-dollar game continues that educational concept of teaching geography, history, art and deductive reasoning in a playful way. (dpa)